Welding Help!!!

I'm trying to do some work on lowering the seats in my Z. I need to have some welding done to some seat rails/sliders.

Should be ready WED, THUR or FRI. I have to have completed Friday at the latest.

Can anyone help or suggest a place that won't charge me 2 arms and a leg and still pull it off before the weekend???

Thanks!!!!

I can help. What do you want done?

Got your PM and responded.

Goal is to lower the height of the seat and to move them inboard toward teh center console more. Aftermarket seats installed on OEM sliders.

1) The seat mounting holes do not match the sliders (which mount OEM front to back), They are closer together widthwise than the slider spacing. I have a flat steel bar running across the sliders and it is currently bolted to the sliders. I want to get rid of the need for the height of the nut.

2) The bracket for the seat belt may need to be cut and extended for the seat to more more inboard.

3) The mechanism for adjusting the sliders on their tracks actually sticks up. The OEM seats were hollow in this area, the aftermarket seats are flush. I need to either cut holes in the bottom of the seats or redesign the mechanism so it is below the bottom of the seat.

I currently have the seat on spacers between the steel bar and the seat to clear the nut holding the steel bar to the sliders and to provide needed space for the slider mechanism. By getting rid of the need for spacers, it should drop the seat height a good inch. Trying to make more headroom. I need to be able to get a helmet on in the car.

Point 3 is what has me wide awake at 1:30AM trying to figure out a solution in my head.

If further work is needed, this shop comes highly recommended.

J & K Welding
8701 Pendelton Pike
Steve Knowles - owner
(317) 898-5988

Is there a way to adjust the center of the seat from left to right with OEM rails/seats?

Only by redrilling holes in a new location on the steel cross supports. Also needed to have the mount for the seatbelt moved over 7/8" to allow for the seat to be moved toward the center of the car.

HoleInOne is currently working on cutting and welding an extra set of OEM sliders I had. his work should give me ~ 3/4" in height at the back of the seat. After his work and some other I'm doing to cut and grind off millimeters here and there, the seats be lowered by 1-1/4" and moved inboard 5/8-7/8" inch.

We looked hard at the slider mechanism and there is no way to easily lower it. That robs me of an add'l 1/2" I could possible drop the seat.

That reminds me, I need to take pictures for my photo album. Always forget that part.

Parts back from HoleInOne. Did a test fit and they line up perfect in the car. Nice work!!! Thanks!!!

I need to do some cleaning with a wire wheel (junkyard parts), and trim some more off in places, then repaint and install.



Got a tour of HoleInOne's metal fab shop. They do some seriously good work in there. All hand-done craftmanship work with stainless. I wish I had a ounce of the talent they have in that shop.

Thanks. Glad it worked out for you.

What do you need? I'm not sure what that is. I would need a sketch or drawing.

Casey, You need to see about making templates and doing some serious measuring first.

FYI, there's a company on 86th out west of Michigan that sells all sorts of metal products to the racing industry. They can provide you with some serious aluminum tube stock you can thread for hem-joint. Then you just need the the strut tower mounts. Alwyas go with the max bolts you can (e.g. if you have 3 bolts attaching the struts to the body, you need to go that route), then a mount for the hem-joints. Cut the strut bar to fit and thread the ends. FYI, you will want a left-hand thread on one side and right-hand thread on the other. This same company can sell you both, along with the taps to thread the bar stock.

After much grinding, redrilling, cutting and welding, the seats are back in the car and I DO have more headroom. TrixZee is happier with her side too.

HoleInOne cut the mounting brackets at the back of the sliders, reduced the height by 3/4" and welded mounting tabs back on. Due to mounting points, there is a variation in the height of the mounting tabs. Larry got those dead-on with no need to elongate the holes to get the sliders to mount back to the car. He also lengthed the seatbelt mount by 7/8" to allow me to move the seats more toward the center of the car. Perfect fit on the passenger side. I should have gone 3/4" on the driver's side due to a small hump I didn't see that was hidden by the carpet. Not a big deal since I was able to get the seat back as far as it could go and bolted down. No fore/aft seat adjustment now, but no one else drives the Z but me, so not a big deal.

Anywho, here are a few pictures of the work.
1) you can see the 7/8" added metal welded into place
2) As low as the rear mounting could be done.
3) Rear mounting shown in car, again, no room to get lower.
4) The small tab with the hole stuck up too high. The OEM seats are hollow under then and the slider mechanism sits up inside of them. No good on the Corbeau since they are flat on the bottom. I redrilled the hole closer to the pivot point, then cut the tab off. There's a strong wire that connects this hole to one on the other slider so both can engage tracks to hold the seat in place.
5) On the other slider, the mechanism stuck up about 4mm too high, so I used a cutting wheel and grinder to get it to the needed height. You can see the U shaped section were material was removed.
6) Shows the sliders and cross members in the car. The seats bolts to the cross members. All clean and fresh coating of black paint.

Look again

Can you get a helmet on?

What about me?

Don't know yet.

Opps...I think I need to make a minor adjustment...so adjustments are possible...or we get you your own Z.